INFORMATION
INDEX
This XAC Index is a collection of selected posts to the XAC list.
It is presented to provide a point of reference for persons seeking information about the movement to combat censorship of Xena Warrior Princess.
At present there are emails from the 6th, through the 29th of April 1999.
Complied by JacQuest
29 Apr 1999
From: "McKinlay, David" <dmckinlay@pc.gov.au>
I'm hardly an expert on Indian politics but a few points have to be made
about it which will give a wider perspective on the banning of The Way. If
anyone is better informed please fill in the gaps or correct errors!
Someone on this list mentioned yesterday that they didn't like politics.
Fair enough, but I'm afraid that Indian politics is at the heart of this
issue and has led to much more than a cultish variety of Hinduism organising
to ban an episode of Xena.
Some of you might not be aware that over the course of the last few years
the Indian government of the BJP has been responsible for unleashing
religious fundamentalists in their country, at both national and state level
(they control the governments of most of the states). Part of their agenda
is giving Hindu religion ascendancy over the other faiths popular in India.
Voters had turned to the BJP, as they were tired of the "free-market"
solutions of major existing parties it would seem. This is not unique to
India. It has happened here in Australia too (less successfully fortunately)
and I dare say in many democracies. Unfortunately, part of the package in
supporting the BJP electorally was to get a party which wished to promote
Hindu religion. In doing this they have also broken an unwritten rule of
Indian governments that governing parties should not dabble in religions and
should operate secular governments. Given that India has several major
faiths all competing it is a wise policy. An example of the new conflict in
India is that at a recent meeting of state and national education Ministers
the Non-BJP governments (which only number something like half-a-dozen among
about 28 states) walked out when the rest opened the summit meeting in which
the BJP installed statues of Hindu gods and started to sing ancient Hindu
hymns. However, just this week the Indian government has collapsed and an
election has been called so this government is coming to an end.
In the countryside much violent religious conflict has occurred, largely it
seems conducted by Hindu radicals against Christians particularly, but also
against other religious followers. You might have seen news footage (was it
last year?) the destruction of a temple owned by one religious group by
protesters of another faith which, if memory serves, were Hindu
fundamentalists.Many murders and acts of violence have happened too. Some
examples of what has transpired in the last few years:
* An Australian aid worker, his wife and two young children were incinerated
in their caravan by a violent mob of Hindu protesters.
* Western Nurses running a free hospital somewhere in rural India felt
they were in such danger from Hindu fundamentalists that they made the
terrible decision to abandon their work for their own safety.
* Cinemas were burned to the ground by protesting Hindu fundamentalists
after the they dared to screen a film these Hindus didn't want shown (which
I believe was called Fire, coincidentally). Does this sound at all familiar?
So how does this affect Xena? It should be clear now that the cultists
campaign against Xena has little to do with an isolated act of offence. It
is part of a continuing campaign by these fundamentalists in India and
against the rest of the world.
The fact that the protest against The Way is homophobic is reason enough to
fight it, but as you see it's also part of a larger agenda which reminds one
of the intimidatory tactics of the German Nazis. That too must be challenged
as must such stupid articles like that one from that Woodell woman who
clearly knows nothing of the background of these events.
BTW, we need to give our support to Hindu watchers of Xena. They are our
allies in the fight to get The Way back on air.They have bigger issues to
keep them busy too I dare say.
A couple of other things in this really long post (sorry!). Arthur, you
might mention this in the Manchester radio programme you are doing. We need
to get across the message that the protests about The Way are part of a
larger picture. Fundamentalists are entitled to their opinion. It's their
instance that we are entitled to it too which is the problem.
Someone else wrote yesterday -
I have been here since the beginning of this campaign and everyone is
doing
such a fanastic job of organizing and finding out the addresses/e-mails
/etc.
It is amazing that all of us who didn't each other have become close and
working for the greater good.
Quite so. Does this remind you of two certain characters we watch?
Again, sorry for the long post but I thought it was necessary to let people
know
David
Melbourne
(Eh-oh Tinky-Winky)
16 Apr 1999
From: dgwarn <dgwarn0@pop.uky.edu>
Fellow Xenites,
I visited the website www.hindunet.org. There's plenty of information
about Hindu gods, including Krishna. (WARNING: This site also provides
information and links to some of the organizations protesting "The Way,"
but you may want to check them out for your information.) I copied the
following information about Krishna for your information. Based upon this
information, I believe that Renaissance Pictures fairly portrayed the Hindu
deity. This may provide some support for the letters we are writing.
ABOUT KRISHNA:
Because of his great Godly power, Lord Krishna is another of the most
commonly worshipped deities in the Hindu faith. He is considered to be the
eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Shree Krishna delivered Bhagwad Gita on
battlefield to Arjun.
He, like Lord Rama, is also known for his bravery in destroying evil powers
throughout his life. The Lord is usually depicted as playing the flute
(murali), indicating spread of the melody of love to people.
He is also shown with his childhood devotee Radha. The Lord is usually
remembered and worshipped as Radha-Krishna. The pair symbolizes the eternal
love between people and god.
9 April 1999
From: "Solari 02" <stargazer_10@hotmail.com>
Thought I'd share what I found...
HARE KRISHNA. In Hinduism Krishna is one of the most widely revered
and popular gods (see Hinduism). He became the focus of a large number
of devotional cults. One of these was inspired by a mystic from
Bengal, Caitanya (1485-1533), who worshiped Krishna with ecstatic song
and dance. In time Caitanya came to be regarded as an incarnation of
Krishna.
In 1965 another Hindu mystic, the swami Prabhupada (A.C.
Bhaktivedanta, 1896-1977), arrived in the United States and founded
the movement originally called the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness. More commonly known as Hare Krishna from the chant its
members use, it claims a direct descent from the beliefs and rites of
Caitanya. By the time swami Prabhupada died he had published more than
50 books and founded about 100 centers throughout the world.
The general public in North America and Europe became aware of the
Hare Krishna movement from seeing its devotees dressed in saffron
robes and singing, dancing, or chanting on street corners and in
public buildings. They were especially visible in railroad stations
and in airports soliciting funds for their organization. Most members
are young, and many are alienated youth who came out of the hippy
culture of the 1960s. They associated themselves with a highly
authoritarian cult that emphasizes enthusiastic religious devotion.
Devotees accept a four-caste system, whose positions are determined by
ability rather than birth as in the Indian caste system (see India,
"Caste").
Hare Krishna believes that human beings are souls composed of
Krishna's energy and bodies made of the lowest matter. To achieve
peace and happiness believers try to return to an original
relationship, called Krishna Consciousness, with the god. This is done
through a type of yoga called bhakti yoga, which involves recognizing
Krishna as a god and doing his work with no thought of reward. All
possessions are surrendered to the organization.
Members live in communes in which unmarried men and women live
separately in celibacy, while married members have their own quarters.
There are prohibitions against gambling, the use of alcohol, and
eating meat. Each commune, or temple, has its own officers, and each
supports itself by selling the organization's publications.
---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 Compton's NewMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved
From: "D W" <darkworrior@chickmail.com>
I stumbled upon this while doing a news
search, which just serves to -REAFFIRM-
that not every Hindu around the globe is
with the *small*, militant, political-minded groups that got The Way pulled.
http://www.littleindia.com/india/mar99/ed
itoria.htm
Editorial
Spectacle Without Actors
By Achal Mehra
It is incumbent upon the media to
occasionally pull back the curtains and
turn on the lights to expose this saffron vaudeville for what it is: a stage with
multiple mirrors without actors.
In recent months, Indian Hindus in
America have expressed outrage at the
music group Aerosmith for disparaging
Ganesh with an image on an album cover.
And they have fumed at Madonna for
usurping the Mehendi and sanskrit
sholakas. They have railed against Pat
Roberston's frequently bigoted outbursts
against "Hindoos." And now they are
taking up arms against Xena the Warrior,
who has teamed up with Krishna in another dumb TV adventure.
I wished that my fellow Hindus in America weren't so touchy about their religion. I never cease to be baffled by Hindu
fundamentalists, considering that
Hinduism alone among the world's major
religions recognizes no established
priestly order, no particular sacred text and no established rituals.
Indeed, one could well argue that
fundamentalism is antithetical to the
core tenets of Hindu philosophy and that
these Hindu zealots are fundamentally
clueless. I have always found it
supremely ironic that Hindu fanatics
share a passion for a doctrinaire form of the religion, not unlike fundamentalist
Muslims and Christians, against whom they constantly inveigh. Nothing, they say, is so like the North Pole as the South Pole.
Whatever the politics of Hindu chauvinism and religious bigotry in India, the Hindu chauvinists in America defy all logic. It is befuddling that these people have
elected to safely put a distance of
10,000 miles from the fires they are
stoking on the subcontinent. In many
instances, members of such organizations
as the Overseas Friends of the BJP and
the even more militant Vishwa Hindu
Parishad have taken out U.S. citizenship. Why they would seek to commit India to a
Hindu theocracy when they presumably will not be riding the udankhatolas or
chariots there boggles the mind.
These bigots protest the bigotry of the
religious right in this country as well
as the comic appropriation of exotic
Hindu icons by the global forces of
commodification. And yet they are
apologists for and constantly seek to
rationalize on behalf of the armed thugs
who assault Muslim and Christian shrines
and murder people in the name of Hinduism back in India.
The fundamentalist Hindu groups in the
United States are a microscopic though
very voluble minority. By all accounts,
the Overseas Friends of the BJP has fewer than 400 members. The Hindu Swayamsewak
Sang (HSS) professes 800 members, while
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad klan is even
smaller. Some 5,000 Indian American
youngsters have apparently participated
in HSS youth camps, which are modeled
after the RSS, but which are attended by
kids for lack of any other form of Hindu
religious experience for Indian families
in America. These youth scarcely share
the zeal of the Sangh's American pariwar.
This 2,000 odd Hindu rump is a laughable
footnote in the life and experience of
the 1.2 million strong Indian American
community. But their dedication and zeal, in the face of widespread political and
religious apathy among Indian Americans
generally, has given them an influence
far beyond their puny numbers.
It is unlikely that their zeal will ebb
any time soon. And it is equally unlikely that the overwhelming majority of Indian
Americans will shake off their
indifference to their silly American
spectacle.
Under the circumstances, it is incumbent
upon the media to occasionally pull back
the curtains and turn on the lights to
expose this saffron vaudeville for what
it is: a stage with multiple mirrors
without actors.
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- Caliban. Shakespeare, -Tempest-
8 Apr 1999
From: "Arthur Chappell" <arthurchappell@clara.net>
With at least one e-mail recieved on these Xena lists suggesting that t
there 6 billion Hindus out there, when the world's population might not come
to that, I did some research today; buy going to WHITTAKER's ALMANAK, an
annual collection of stas and figures on every subject under the Sun, and
very reliable at that. Here is what it says.
Global Human population; the last official census was in 1990 and set
the world at 5,292 million people.
India - Population - 846,302,688.291 figures from 1991 UN
census) 82.6% of these are belived to be Hindus. There are some estimated
800 million Hindus worldwide (clearly the vast majority are in India).
No stats available for ISKCON, or VNN, who are likely to be a
very small minority of these kind of figures. (probably less than 1%. Hope
this helps. AC arthurchappell@clara.net
http://www.arthurchappell.clara.net/xenacles.htm
6 Apr 1999
Subj: [XAC] Who really pulled "The Way"
Date: 4/6/99 5:28:17 PM Mountain Daylight Time
From: lostkiwi@worldnet.att.net (Becky Calvert)
Dear Xenites,
I have come across some info you might be interested in concerning the pulling of "The Way".
It seems that Renaissance Pictures, Rob Tapert, RJ Stewart, nor anyone else
connected with the program had any say in this decision and that USA
studios was forced to pull the episode by the AFFILIATE STATIONS!!!!!
It appears that the Hindu organizations mobilized thier numbers and
deludged many affiliate stations with tons of Faxes, e-mails, and phone
calls. Not just a few random notes, some affiliates recieved over 200
messages a day. As far as I know the picketing was confined to LA.
In light of this new information, we now have a target and starting point
to try and express our concerns and to attempt to get "The Way" reinstated.
It would appear that if targeting the local affiliates worked for this
small group of individuals, the same strategy could be employed by the
Xenaverse.
With the number of people we have, we could well exceed 200 messages a day
and let the affiliates know that we comprise a much larger portion of their
viewing audience than those they capitulated to. All we have to do is start
an e-mail, snail mail, fax, telephone campaigne to all our local
affiliates. (Remember back in the "Old Days" when a mail campaigne kept
Star Trek on the air?)
With everyone pitching in we could really put some serious hurt on their
budgets--not to mention thier fax/phone/mail/ and e-mail systems.
It might also be helpful to send copies of everything to USA Studios, to the attention of:
Jim Benson
Studios USA
8800 Sunset Blvd.
W. Hollywood, CA 90069
We need to inform the local affiliates just exactly WHO is watching their
station, WHAT we want to watch, HOW MANY of us there are, and that we are
seriously concerned about the way they are making decisions regarding what
is or is not viewable or offensive to thier audience. The affiliates are
not "Big Brother". I don't believe that they need to watch out for us or
make our viewing decisions. I, for one, know how to turn the channel.
Freedom of speech and expression is a two way street--it is time to get the
traffic moving!!!
BATTLE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Becky Calvert
Commander in Chief
SSPA/NBB
ICQ# 12967331